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Launcher Sample Application

Overview

The Launcher application allows you to place your application into a program Launcher menu after you install the application on the BlackDog. A user can then click on the program button to launch your application. The Launcher taskbar is analogous to the Start menu on a Windows system.

The Launcher configuration file is located at /etc/launcher.conf. During BlackDog operations, the Launcher program is executed after the login application completes.

Launcher Sample Applications

Two launcher sample applications are configured in the /etc/launcher.conf file:

• Information window application, which launches an Xdialog box that displays a text file in a text box.
• Remote desktop application, which launches an Xdialog box that solicits user information, which is then passed to a remote desktop client. The Xdialog box contains a field for entry of an IP address, with Submit and Cancel command buttons.

Running Launcher Sample Applications

To run the launcher sample applications, execute launcher.

Launcher Configuration Syntax

When you specify an application in the launcher.conf file, it creates a new button (with its own label and icon) in the Launcher menu. The two launcher sample applications (information window and remote desktop) are specified in the /etc/launcher.conf file as follows:

command: "/usr/bin/Xdialog --textbox /etc/launcher.txt 50 50" pixmap:"none" label: "Info"

command: "/usr/bin/rdesk.sh" pixmap:"none" label: "Remote Desktop Login"

where:

command: defines the application pathname, with attributes. (For syntax help, enter Xdialog --help, or rdesk.sh --help)

pixmap: defines the pathname to the icon displayed on the button the user clicks in the Launcher program menu. To use the default icon, enter "none".

label: defines the text displayed on the button the user clicks in the Launcher program menu.

Deploying an Updated Launcher Application

After you make configuration changes to the Launcher program (customized for your site's set of applications), you need to deploy the updated Launcher application to BlackDog devices. You must update the launcher.conf file in the Launcher Sample application debian package source tree, build a new package, and deploy applications directly to BlackDog.

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